bailing hay with a Farmall H or M?
 

I was wondering if the Farmall H and M are compatible for bailing hay? I'd like to buy a vintage baler and fix it up. Im mostly just interest in HI bailers. I was also interested in McCormick brand but heard they are junk. Im not looking for a kicker or thrower.

They should be fine for running a baler. My neighbors ran their super m on a new holland super hayliner 68.

As long as she's not pulling one of those round balers :biggrin2:

it should be fine.


IMO an H drives great but an M has more power so my vote is the M. :beerchug:

We still bale hay on occasion with our M and #430 IH baler. It works great, only thing I wish it had was live PTO. But, you get used to it.

What do you mean by "McCormick brand"? If you are talking vintage balers then IH and McCormick Balers are the same.

Ya the IH balers are junk, I bought a junk IH/McCormick 45T 35+ years ago out of a fence row for $25.00 and it is still putting up bales every year, but I don't put up many now, maybe 200 or so, just to play and keep my old muscles moving.
Live power is a + on any tractor,I pull it with my 400 or the 730 Diesel
The paint is long gone, and she really looks junky cause it sits out, but @ the end of the season I spray it down with old motor oil, and she never failed to work the next season.
It will miss a knot now and then if you don't turn it off while not picking up hay/straw or trying to operate it too fast.
Always figgered I'd use it till it broke, then get a nice John Deere 14T or 24T
but it never broke. other than old tires rotting down.

An M is all around bigger, taller, more powerful, and pulls way more than an H. I have both and would choose the M first for everything EXCEPT raking and baling hay. Raking doesn't matter, just a much less fuel consumption reason. The H is just the right power running our 273 New Holland even pulling a full wagon of hay. It uses less gas baling, turns easier, and I do have the hand clutch on it. I have baled with my M too. Nothing disappointing at all. Just a bigger tractor to maneuver around the field and turn all day on. Neither will disappoint.

Either one would work fine.
If we could bale with the old Super C, an H or M will be more than enough. I remember the only thing that sucked without live pto was having to bump the shifter out of gear to keep the pto going when you stopped to clean out the baler.

Like stated earlier, the only bad part about using an H or M is not having live PTO. We bale with a 460, which is real handy not only with live PTO but also having the T/A for speed adjustment. An H makes a heck of raking and haul in unit, and our M is strictly meant for pulling 300 ft. at a time lol. Just my .02

Thanks for the feedback all. That IH 430 looks interesting. Might have to look for one! :)

Thanks!

Try looking for a #430 all twine model. Then you can run plastic twine OR sisal twine. Any older IH baler is great, #46, 47, 37, 430, 440, etc. Just remember, these machines are 40-50 years old, so you aren't going to find a new baler.

We still run around 10,000 bales a year with a 47, and my grandpa runs about 15,000 bales out of his 430. Yeah, they miss bales and give us fits, but once you learn how to work on them they are pretty straightforward.